Breteil

History

In 1120, Raoul de Montfort included the castle of Breteil in the dowry of his daughter for her wedding to the earl of La Riolaye. The parish of Breteil was created from the division of the former parish of Pleumeleuc in 1122. In this year, the bishop of Aleth consecrated the church of Breteil to Benedictine monks of Saint-Melaine de Rennes. In 1152, the Lord of Montfort-sur-Meu gave two plots of agricultural land in Breteil to the abbey of Saint-Jacques de Montfort to contribute to the monks' activities. In the town centre of Breteil, a priest named Guillaume gave a house to the abbey of Montfort-sur-Meu. Like everywhere in Brittany, particularly Upper Brittany, small farmers had land, but they were usually small areas. Relatively few peasants were economically secure; the others, except for farmers, had to work as day labourers and servants. With 167 servants out of 1271 inhabitants in 1774, Breteil had relatively fewer servants than several neighboring towns. The territory of the parish fell into two jurisdictions: * Breteil and la Riollais * la Touche Parthenay, Launay-Sinan and la Gautrais The head tax, the "twentieth" and other taxes were collected by tax collectors who travelled throughout the parish, which was divided into four districts: town centre, the abbey, la Boulais and Painbay.

Geography

The river Meu forms the commune's southwestern border. Breteil is part of the canton of Montfort-sur-Meu and the arrondissement of Rennes. The town has 3502 inhabitants and covers 1470 hectares. It is surrounded by the towns of Montfort-sur-Meu, Bédée, La Nouaye, Iffendic, Pleumeleuc, Talensac, Saint-Gonlay.

Most-observed species

• Common Chaffinch

  Fringilla coelebs Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,756
• European Robin

  Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,704
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,577
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,478
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,315
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,980
• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,940
• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,742

Most recent

• M 3.6 — 2017-09-28
  1 km WNW of Tresbœuf, France
• M 3.3 — 2014-07-23
  France
• M 4.5 — 2013-11-21
  1 km WSW of Plescop, France
• M 2.5 — 2008-09-19
  2 km NNE of Montigné-le-Brillant, France
• M 2.6 — 2008-08-28
  3 km E of Mauron, France
• M 2.5 — 2008-08-11
  3 km NW of Péaule, France